Hurricane Florence: ‘Tropical-storm winds’ likely for Beaufort County

Bluffton Today

Thursday

Sep 13, 2018 at 10:13 AMSep 13, 2018 at 8:50 PM

8 p.m. update:

With Hurricane Florence having slowed down off the North Carolina coast Thursday evening, it could be some time before Beaufort County should expect any wind and rain from the storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Tonight and tomorrow really shouldn’t have any issues at all,” meteorologist Chris Fisher said following the center’s 8 p.m. update.

“Winds will pick up a little bit, but they’re not going to be gusting anything higher than maybe 15-20 miles per hour at the most. It’s really still going to be probably another 18-24 hours before we really start seeing some gusty winds tomorrow night.”

As for rain, Fisher said that it was still “up in the air” as to when Beaufort County should expect precipitation related to Florence due to the track of the storm.

“Right now we’re still looking at, probably at this point I would say, generally, still looking at 2-4 inches for the entire event, but again that could still change if the track ends up going a little further south.

Florence is expected to make landfall on the North Carolina coast sometime Friday, and as of 8 p.m. was between Wilmington and Morehead City, N.C. The hurricane was still listed as a Category 2 and may weaken some overnight.

“It’s still going to be quite a while,” Fisher said. “There’s a chance it may happen in the morning and there’s a chance it may not happen until tomorrow afternoon because it’s already down to a motion of five miles per hour and it’s expected to slow down even more than that overnight; it may still be quite a while before we see an official landfall.”

Once Florence makes landfall it is expected to degrade quickly, and Fisher noted that by Saturday morning it should be downgraded to a tropical storm.

3 p.m. update:

According to the latest update Thursday afternoon from the National Weather Service, Hurricane Florence is battering the Outer Banks of North Carolina and expected to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday before affecting Beaufort and Jasper counties this weekend.

“It should make landfall somewhere between a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane. As it continues inland through South Carolina, we are expecting it to weaken to a tropical storm by Saturday morning,” meteorologist Christina Speciale said.

“Then it’s expected to extend northward toward Columbia. In terms of what that means for folks in Beaufort and Jasper County, we’re still thinking with more confidence that we’ll see tropical-force winds rather than hurricane-force winds.

“Could a few gusts get to hurricane strength? Yes, it’s still on the table. But we’re thinking the majority of wind gusts experienced by people in that area are expected to be more in the tropical-storm-force range.”

Speciale said those strongest effects could be felt in Beaufort and Jasper counties during the day Saturday and possibly late Friday at the earliest.

“But once we get into Sunday, it looks like that storm should finally be exiting and the winds should be noticeably decreasing. It would still be windy and still breezy, but it doesn’t look like the winds would be as strong as they once were Friday night and Saturday,” she said.

“Of course we’re still expecting heavy rainfall. Most of the heaviest rains should fall in Charleston and northward, so Beaufort and Jasper County may actually escape unscathed in that department.”

Speciale said the fact that it was a wet summer in the region could play a factor in increasing the chances of flooding.

Meteorologists are expecting somewhere between one to four inches of rain in Beaufort and Jasper, with Beaufort likely receiving slightly more.

“Given the prolonged period of potential tropical storm force winds, power lines and trees can fall and we are advising folks that power outages are possible and looking increasingly likely with the prolonged winds combined with heavy rain,” Speciale said.

At Gov. Henry McMaster’s 2:30 p.m. news conference, he reiterated his Wednesday comments that if people near Beaufort County feel the need to leave the area, do so now before the roads become too congested or flooded.

“When it gets down to Beaufort sometime tomorrow, you should not be on the road,” McMaster said.

Morning update:

The National Weather Service’s forecast at 11 a.m. Thursday projects that the center of Hurricane Florence will hit the Wilmington, N.C., area early Friday.

Northern Beaufort County is still inside the southern edge of the storm’s “cone of uncertainty.”

“Based on the history of the hurricane center’s forecast, the center of the storm could reach (Beaufort County). But taking the current forecast, it brings it north of Wilmington as a hurricane and slowly tracks it across the Pee Dee region on Friday and early Saturday morning,” meteorologist Neil Dixon said Thursday morning.

Dixon said Florence is forecasted to be downsized to a tropical depression “by the time it reaches Columbia early Sunday morning.”

He added that Beaufort County is currently looking at a 47 percent chance of tropical-storm-force winds (39 mph and above) and a 3 percent chance of hurricane winds (74 mph and above).

A high-surf advisory is in effect for Beaufort County, but no tropical weather watches or warnings have been issued.

“It’s still quite a large storm and tropical-storm winds extend quite a far distance from the center,” Dixon said. “On Friday, you’ll notice a difference in the winds. They’re going to be picking up Friday night into Saturday.

“The rain looks like it will occur more over this weekend. Saturday through Sunday night is the main window for the rainfall.”

Beaufort County is forecasted to experience 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain with higher amounts possible. Dixon said there is potential for flash flooding in northern Beaufort County if heavy rainfall coincides with high tides.

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